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New Delhi:
Constructed on elevated terrains and largely having little area for final minute manoeuvre, tabletop runways at airports at instances pose challenges for pilots whereas touchdown their plane. And Air India Express planes have crashed at the least twice on such runways in little over a decade.
At least 5 airports, together with at Kozhikode in Kerala the place an Air India Express plane crashed on Friday, have tabletop runways.
Tabletop runways are constructed on hilly or elevated terrains and there could possibly be additionally low-lying areas adjoining to such runways or gorges in direction of the tip.
Airports Authority of India (AAI) Chairman Arvind Singh stated tabletop runways are there at 4 airports operated by it. They are at Kozhikode, Mangalore (Karnakata), Shimla (Himachal Pradesh) and Pakyong (Sikkim).
The Lengpui airport in Mizoram, which is with the state authorities, additionally has a tabletop runway.
State-owned AAI operates 137 aerodromes, together with those via joint ventures.
A senior Air India pilot stated that automation may not assist in the case of tabletop runways. There can also be the problem of optical phantasm, the place the runway may appear to be nearer whereas it might truly be additional away, he added.
The pilot additionally burdened that there’s not a lot buffer zone in contrast to regular runways.
There are tabletop runways in several components of the world and solely when the runway size is much less, there could possibly be points with touchdown of plane. In the case of Kozhikode airport, the runway is about 9,000 ft which is kind of lengthy, based on a senior regulatory official.
Tabletop runways are there at some airports, each in north and south India, he added.
According to the official, pilots are typically advised about such runways and numerous restrictions.
In the Court of Inquiry report concerning the aircraft crash at Mangalore airport in May 2010, it was talked about that there have been three tabletop airports within the nation from the place scheduled flights function at Mangalore, Kozhikode and Lengpui.
“Because of the undulating terrain and constraints of space, these airfields require extra skill and caution while carrying out flight operations. The hazard of undershooting and overshooting, in particular, can lead to grave situations, as was the case in this accident,” the report had stated.
It had additionally stated that tabletop runways have an issue of entry roads across the airfield, which can have to be utilized in case of plane accidents.
Citing ICAO knowledge, the report had additionally stated that many of the accidents happen throughout touchdown and take-off phases, with a lot of runway excursions and plane overrunning into the overshoot space.
“Considering the large momentum of these aircraft, a downward slope in the overrun area can worsen the outcome. It is therefore recommended that such downward slopes as obtaining in Mangalore be brought to the same level of the runway surface. This also needs to be ensured at all tabletop airports in the country,” the report had stated.
Regarding the Air India Express aircraft that crashed on Friday, AAI stated it had touched down round 1,000 metres from the start of the runway on the Kozhikode airport earlier than breaking apart into two items. The Boeing 737-800 plane whereas touchdown overshot the runway and went down 35 ft right into a slope. The pilot of the flight — IX-1344 — couldn’t sight the runway within the first touchdown try as a consequence of heavy rains.
An AAI spokesperson stated that runway 28 was in use and within the first touchdown try the pilot couldn’t sight the runway and requested for runway 10.
The pilot then steered the aircraft to runway 10 and got here from the opposite facet, based on an AAI official.
Citing data from the Air Traffic Controller (ATC), the spokesperson stated the plane touched down close to taxiway ‘C’, which is roughly 1,000 metres from the start of runway 10. The complete size of the runway is 2,700 metres. The spokesperson additionally stated that it was raining over the airfield and reported visibility on the time of touchdown was 2,000 metres.
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